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UC-NRLF 


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in 


THE    NATURE 


OF  THE 


Intercourse  between  the  Soul 
and  the  Body 


ITHt'JI  IS  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  EFFECTED  EITHER  BY  PHYSICAL  INFLVX,  OK  BY 
SPIRITUAL  INFLUX,  OR  BY  PRE-ESTABLISHED  HARMONY 


FROM  THE  LATIN  OF 


EMANUEL    SWEDEiNBORG 

Servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 

Being  a  translation  of  his  work  entitled  "  Dh.  COMMERCIO  ANIM>E  ET  CORPUS,  quod  creditui  fieri 

vel  per  Influxum  Physicum,  vel  per  Infiuxum  Spiritualem,  vel  per 

Harmoniam  Praestabilitam."      Londini,  1769 


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NEW     YORK 


AMERICAN  SWEDENBORG  PRINTING  AND  PUBLISHING 

SOCIETY 

NO.     3    WEST    TWENTY-NINTH    STREET 
1898 


Theological  Works  §  Emanuel  Swedenborg, 

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THE    NATURE 


OF  THE 


Intercourse  between  the  Sou 
and  the  Body 


trm:n  is  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  EFFECTED  EITHER  BY  PHYSICAL  INFLUX,  of  BY 

SPIRITUAL  INFLUX,  OR  BY  PRE-ESTABLISHED  HARMONY 


FROM  THE  LATIN  OF 


EMANUEL    SWEDENBORG 

u 

Servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 

Being  a  translation  of  his  work  entitled  "  DH  COMMKRCIO  ANIMJE  ET  CORPUS,  quod  creditui  fieri 

vel  per  Influxum  Physicum,  vel  per  Influxum  Spiritualem,  vel  per 

Harmoniam  Prsestabilitam."      Londini,  1769 


NEW    YORK 

AMERICAN  SWEDENBORG  PRINTING  AND  PUBLISHING 

SOCIETY 

NO.     3    WEST    TWENTY-NINTH    STREET 
1898 


XL, 


CONTENTS. 


L  That  there  are  two  Worlds,  a  Spiritual  World  inhabited  by 

Spirits  and  Angels,  and  a  Natural  World  inhabited  by  Men. .  9 
II.  That  the  Spiritual  World  first  existed  and  continually  sub- 
sists from  its  own  sun  ;  and  that  the  Natural  World  first  ex- 
isted and  continually  subsists  from  its  own  sun 4 

QL  That  the  sun  of  the  Spiritual  World  is  pure  Love,  from  JehovaH 

God,  who  is  in  the  midst  of  it 6 

IV.  That  from  that  Sun  proceed  Heat  and  Light ;  and  that  the 
Heat  proceeding  from  it  in  its  essence  is  Love,  and  the  Light 

thence  in  its  essence  is  Wisdom I 

V.  That  both  that  Heat  and  that  Light  flow  into  Man,  the  Heat 
into  his  Will,  where  it  produces  the  good  of  love,  and  the 
Light  into  his  Understanding,  where  it  produces  the  truth  of 
wisdom T 

VI.  That  those  two  elements,  viz.  Heat  and  Light,  or  Love  and 
Wisdom,  flow  conjointly  from  God  into  the  soul  of  man,  and 
by  this  into  the  mind,  its  affections  and  thoughts,  and  from 

these  into  the  senses,  speech,  and  actions  of  the  body 9 

VII.  That  the  sun  of  the  Natural  World  is  pure  fire  ;  and  that  the 
world  of  nature  first  existed  and  continually  subsists  by  means 

or  this  sun 9 

VIII.  That  therefore  every  thing  which  proceeds  from  this  sun,  re- 
garded in  itself,  is  dead ,.  10 

IX.  That  what  is  Spiritual  clothes  itself  with  what  is  Natural,  as 

a  man  clothes  himself  with  a  garment 11 

X.  That  Spiritual  Existences  so  clothed  in  man,  are  what  enable 
him  to  live  as  a  Rational  and  Moral  Man,  thus  a  Spiritually 
Natural  Man. 12 

XL  That  the  reception  of  that  Influx  is  according  to  the  state  of 

Love  and  Wisdom  with  man 1ft 

XII.  That  the  Understanding  in  ma.*  is  capable  of  being  elevated 
into  the  Light,  that  is,  into  the  Wisdom,  in  which  are  the  an- 
gels of  heaven,  according  to  the  improvement  of  his  reason  ; 
and  that,  in  like  manner,  his  Will  is  capable  of  being  elevated 
into  the  Heat  of  heaven,  that  is,  into  the  Love  of  heaven,  ac- 
cording to  the  deeds  of  hia  Life :  but  that  the  Love  of  the 

[  17  ]  257 

365451 


CONTENTS. 

Section. 

Will  is  not  elevated,  except  so  far  as  the  man  wi  is  and  does 
those  things  which  the  Wisdom  of  the  Understanding  teaches  14 

Kill.  That  it  is  altogether  otherwise  with  beasts 15 

XIV.  That  there  are  three  Degrees  in  the  Spiritual  World,  and 
three  Degrees  in  the  Natural  World,  hitherto  unknown,  accord- 
ing to  which  all  influx  takes  place 16 

XV.  That  Ends  are  in  t'ne  first  degree,  Causes  in  the  second,  and 
Effects  in  the  third .7 

£VI.  That  hence  is  evident  what  is  the  nature  of  Spiritual  Influx, 

from  its  origin  to  its  effects 10 


T3K   NATURE   OF 


THE    INTERCOURSE 

BETWEEN 

THE   SOUL   A]*D    THE   BODY. 


1.  THERE  are  three  opinions  and  tenets,  or  three  hypotheses, 
respecting  the  intercourse  between  the  soul  and  the  body,  or 
respecting  the  manner  in  which  the  one  operates  on  the  other, 
and  in  which  they  both  operate  in  union  ;  the  first  is  called 
Physical  Influx,  the  second  Spiritual  Influx,  and  the  third  Pre- 
established  Harmony.  The  FIRST  hypothesis,  which  is  that  of 
PHYSICAL  INFLUX,  draws  its  origin  from  the  appearances  of  the 
senses,  and  the  fallacies  whicn  spring  from  that  source.  For 
it  appears  as  if  the  objects  of  sight,  whieh  affect  the  eyes, 
flowed  into  the  thought,  and  produced  it ;  in  like  manner 
speech,  which  affects  the  ears,  appears  to  flow  into  the  mind, 
and  produce  ideas  there  ;  and  the  case  appears  to  be  similar 
with  respect  to  the  smell,  taste  and  touch.  The  organs  of  these 
senses  first  receive,  by  contact,  impressions  from  surrounding 
objects ;  and  the  mind  appears  to  think,  and  also  to  will,  ac- 
cording to  the  affections  of  those  organs  ;  observing  which,  the 
ancient  philosophers  and  schoolmen  concluded  there  to  be  an 
influx  from  the  organs  of  sense  into  the  soul,  and  hence  adopted 
the  hypothesis  of  Physical  or  Natural  Influx.  The  SECOND  hy- 
pothesis, which  is  that  of  SPIRITUAL  INFLUX,  called  by  some 
Occasional  Influx,  draws  its  origin  from  order  and  its  laws. 
For  the  soul  is  a  spiritual  substance,  and  is  consequently  purer, 
prior,  and  interior;  but  the  body  is  material,  and  is  consequently 
grosser,  posterior,  and  exterior  ;  and  it  is  according  to  order  for 
what  is  purer  to  flow  into  what  is  grosser,  what  is  prior  into 
what  is  posterior,  and  what  is  interior  into  what  is  exterior ; 
thus  what  is  spiritual  into  what  is  material ;  and  not  the  con- 
trary ;  consequently,  it  is  according  to  order  for  the  mind,  as 
the  seat  of  thought,  to  flow  into  the  sight  according  to  the 
Itate  induced  on  the  eyes  by  the  objects  before  them, — which 
itate,  also,  that  mind  disposes  at  its  pleasure ;  and  likewise  for 
the  mind  as  the  seat  of  perception  to  flow  into  the  hearing 

359 


2  TEE   INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

according  to  the  state  induced  on  the  ears  by  speech.  The 
THIRD  hypothesis,  which  is  that  of  PRE-ESTABLISHED  HARMONY, 
originates  from  appearances  and  fallacies  to  which  the  rational 
faculty  is  subject.  For  in  the  operation  itself,  the  mind  acts 
together  and  simultaneously  with  the  body ;  but,  nevertheless, 
every  operation  is  first  successive  and  afterwards  simultaneous. 
Now  successive  operation  is  influx,  and  simultaneous  operation 
is  harmony  ;  which  occur  when  the  mind  thinks  and  afterwards 
speaks,  or  when  it  wills  and  afterwards  acts.  It  is  therefore  a 
fallacy  of  the  rational  faculty  to  establish  that  which  is  simul- 
taneous and  exclude  that  which  is  successive.  No  fourth  opin- 
ion respecting  the  intercourse  between  the  soul  and  the  body 
can  be  framed ;  for  either  the  soul  must  operate  on  the  body, 
or  the  body  on  the  soul,  or  both  continually  together. 

2.  Since  the  hypothesis  of  spiritual  influx  draws  its  origin, 
as  just  observed,  from  order  and  its  laws,  this  opinion  has  been 
acknowledged  and  received  by  the  wise  in  the  learned  world 
in  preference  to  the  other  two ;  for  every  thing  which  draws  its 
origin  from  order,  is  truth,  and  truth  manifests  itself  by  virtue 
of  its  inherent  light,  even  in  that  shade  which  obscures  the  ra- 
tional perception  while  the  truth  only  exists  in  the  form  of  an 
hypothesis.  There  are  three  things  which  involve  this  hypo- 
thesis in  shade,  viz.,  ignorance  respecting  what  the  soul  is,  ig- 
norance respecting  what  anything  spiritual  is,  and  ignorance 
respecting  the  nature  of  influx  :  wherefore  these  three  things 
must  first  be  unfolded  before  the  rational  faculty  can  see  the 
truth  itself.  For  truth,  while  it  only  exists  in  the  form  of  an 
hypothesis,  is  not  truth  itself,  but  a  conjecture  respecting  it ; 
it  is  like  a  picture  seen  at  night  on  a  wall  by  the  light  of  the 
stars,  to  which  the  mind  assigns  a  different  form  according  to 
its  fancy  ;  whereas  its  proper  form  is  seen  when  the  sun  illu- 
minates it  in  the  morning,  and  not  only  discovers  and  renders 
visible  its  general  figure,  but  also  its  particular  parts  :  just  so, 
out  of  the  shade  in  which  the  truth  appears  while  this  opinion 
exists  in  the  form  of  an  hypothesis,  arises  the  open  truth,  when 
it  is  known  what  and  of  what  nature  that  which  is  spiritual  is 
respectively  to  that  which  is  natural ;  what  and  of  what  nature 
the  human  soul  is  ;  and  what  is  the  nature  of  the  influx  that 
flows  into  the  soul,  and  by  the  soul  into  the  perceptive  and 
thinking  mind,  and  from  this  into  the  body.  But  these  sub- 
jects can  be  explained  by  no  man,  unless  he  have  received 
from  the  Lord  the  privilege  of  being  in  society  with  angels  in 
the  spiritual  world  and  with  men  in  the  natural  world  at  the 
same  time ;  and  since  this  privilege  has  been  bestowed  on  me., 
I  have  been  enabled  to  describe  what  and  of  what  nature  they 
are.  This  I  have  done  in  the  work  on  CONJUGIAL  LOVE,  in  the 
Memorable  Relation  respecting  the  nature  of  what  is  SPIRITUAL, 
n.  326 — 329;  in  that  respecting  the  HUMAN  SOUL,  n.  315  ;  io 
260 


THE   SOUL   AND    THE   BODY.  a 

that  respecting  INFLUX,  n.  380 ;  and  more  fully  in  that  at  n. 
4:15 — 4:22.*  Who  does  not  know,  or  may  not  know,  that  the 
good  of  love  and  the  truth  of  faith  flow  from  God  into  man, 
and  that  they  flow  into  his  soul,  and  are  felt  in  his  mind  ;  and 
that  they  flow  again,  from  his  thought  into  his  speech,  and  from 
his  will  into  his  actions  ?  That  spiritual  influx,  and  its  origin 
and  derivation,  are  from  thence,  shall  be  manifested  in  the  fol- 
lowing order.  I.  That  there  are  two  worlds,  a  spiritual  world, 
which  is  inhabited  by  spirits  and  angels,  and  a  natural  world, 
which  is  inhabited  by  men.  II.  That  the  spiritual  world  first 
existed  and  continually  subsists  from  its  own  sun  ;  and  that  the 
natural  world  first  existed  and  continually  subsists  from  its  own 
sun.  III.  That  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world  is  pure  love  from 
Jehovah  God,  who  is  in  the  midst  of  it.  IY.  That  from  that 
sun  proceed  heat  and  light ;  and  that  the  heat  proceeding  from 
it  is  in  its  essence  love,  and  the  light  thence  is  in  its  essence 
wisdom.  Y.  That  both  that  heat  and  that  light  flow  into  man, 
the  heat  into  his  will,  where  it  produces  the  good  of  love;  and 
the  light  into  his  understanding,  where  it  produces  the  truth 
of  wisdom.  YI.  That  those  two  elements,  viz.,  heat  and  light, 
or  love  and  ioisdom,fiow  conjointly  from  God  into  the  soul  of 
man,  and  by  this  into  his  mind,  its  affections  and  thought*, 
and  from  these  into  the  senses,  speech  and  actions  of  the 
body.  YII.  That  the  sun  of  the  natural  world  is  pureflre; 
and  that  the  world  of  nature  first  existed  and  continually  sub- 
sists by  this  sun.  V  III.  That  therefore  every  thing  which  pro- 
seeds  from  this  sun,  regarded  in  itself,  is  dead.  IX.  That  that 
which  is  spiritual,  clothes  itself  with  that  which  is  natural,  as 
man  clothes  himself  with  a  garment.  X.  That  spiritual  things 
thus  clothed  in  man  enable  him  to  live  as  a  rational  and  moral 
man,  thus  as  a  spiritually  natural  man.  XI.  That  the  recep- 
tion of  that  influx  is  according  to  the  state  of  love  and  wisdom 
with  man.  XII.  That  the  understanding  in  man  is  capable 
of  being  elevated  into  the  light,  that  is,  into  the  wisdom,  in  which 
are  the  angels  of  heaven,  according  to  the  improvement  of  his 
rational  faculty  j  and  that  his  will  is  capable  of  beina  elevated, 
in  like  manner,  into  heat,  tJiat  is,  nto  love,  according  to  the 
deeds  of  his  life  /  but  that  the  love  of  the  will  is  not  elevated, 
except  so  far  as  man  wills  and  does  those  things  which  the  wis- 
dom of  the  understanding  teaches.  XIII.  That  beasts  are  con- 
stituted (juite  otherwise.  XIY.  That  there  are  three  degrees  in 
the  spiritual  world,  and  three  degrees  in  the  natural  world,  ac- 
cording to  which  all  influx  takes  place.  XY.  That  ends  are  in 
the  first  degree,  causes  in  the  second,  and  effects  in  the  third. 
XVI.  That  hence  may  appear  what  is  the  nature  of  spiritual 

*  Those  who  may  not  possess  the  work  on  CONJUGIAL,  LOVE,  will  find  the  K 
articles  In  the  TRTE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION,  n.  280  ;  n.  697  ;  n.  35  ;  n.  77,  and  n. 

261 


8,  4:  THE    INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN 

influx  from  its  origin  to  its  effects.     Each  of  these  propositions 
shall  now  be  briefly  illustrated. 

I.  That  there  are  two  worlds,  a    spiritual   world  inhabited 
by  spirits  and  angels,  and  a  natural  world  inhabited  by  men. 

3.  That  there  is  a  spiritual  world  inhabited  by  spirits  and 
angels,  distinct  from  the  natural  world  inhabited  by  men,  is  a 
fact  which,  because  no  angel  has  descended  and  declared  it, 
and  no  man  has  ascended  and  seen  it,  has  been  hitherto  un- 
known, even  in  the  Christian  world  ;  lest,  therefore,  from  ig- 
norance of  the  existence  of  such  a  world,  and  the  doubts  re- 
specting the  reality  of  heaven  and  hell  which  result  from  such 
ignorance,  men  should  be  infatuated  to  such  a  degreee  as  to 
become  naturalists  and  atheists,  it  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  open 
my  spiritual  sight,  and,  as  to  my  spirit,  to  elevate  me  into  hea- 
ven, and  to  let  me  down  into  hell,  and  to  exhibit  to  my  view 
the  nature  of  both.     It  has  thus  been  made  evident  to  me  that 
there  are  two  worlds  completely  distinct  from  each  other ;  one, 
all  the  objects  of  which  are  spiritual,  whence  it  is  called  the 
spiritual  world ;  and  another,  all  the  objects  of  wrhich  are  na- 
tural, whence  it  is  called  the  natural  world  ;  as  also,  that  spirits 
and  angels  live  in  their  own  world,   and  men  in  theirs  ;  and 
further,   that   every   man    passes  by   death   from   his    world 
into  the  other,  in  which  he  lives  to  eternity.     It  is  necessary, 
in  order  that  the  nature  of  iiiflux,  which  is  the  subject  of  this 
little  work,  may  be  unfolded  from  its  first  origin,  that  some  in- 
formation respecting  both  these  worlds  should  be  first  premised; 
tor  the  spiritual  world  flows  into  the  natural  world,  and  actu- 
ates it  in  all  its  parts  ;  it  not  only  operates  upon    men,  but  on 
beasts  too ;  and  also  constitutes  the  vegetative  principle  in 
treeu  and  herbs. 

II.  That  the  spiritual  world  first  existed  and  continually 
subsists  from  its  own  sun  ;   and  that  the   natural   world  firsl 
existed  and  continually  subsists  from  its  own  sun. 

4.  There  is  one  sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  another  sun 
of  the  natural  world,  because  those  worlds  are  completely  dis- 
tinct from  each  other ;  and  every  world  must  derive  its  origin 
from  a  sun  ;  for  a  world  of  which  all  the  objects  are  spiritual, 
cannot  originate  from  a  sun,  all  the  products  of  which  are  na- 
tural ;  for  then  there  must  be  a  physical  influx,  which,  never 
theless,  is  contrary  to  order.     That  the  world  first  existed  from 
the  sun,  and  not  the  sun  from  the  world,  is  manifest  by  an 
effect  from  the  former  cause  still  observable ;  viz.,  that  the 
world,  in  the  whole  and  in  every  part,  still  subsists  by  the 
sun  ;  and  subsistence  demonstrates  existence  ;  wherefore,  it  is 

262 


THE    SOUL    AND   THE    BODY.  4,    5 

a  common  remark,  that  subsistence  is  perpetual  existence ; 
whence  it  is  evident,  that  take  away  the  sun,  and  its  world 
would  fall  into  a  chaos,  and  this  chaos  into  nothing.  That,  in 
the  spiritual  world,  there  is  a  sun  different  from  that  in  the 
natural  world,  I  am  able  to  testify,  for  I  have  seen  it ;  in  ap- 
pearance, it  is  a  globe  of  tire,  like  our  sun,  is  of  much  the  same 
magnitude,  and  at  the  same  distance  from  the  angels  as  our 
sun  is  from  men  ;  but  it  does  not  rise  or  set,  but  stands  immov- 
able in  a  middle  altitude  between  the  zenith  and  the  horizon  ; 
whence  the  angels  enjoy  perpetual  light  and  perpetual  spring. 
The  man  who  reasons  upon  the  subject  without  knowing  any 
thing  respecting  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  may  easily  fall 
into  insane  notions  when  he  endeavors  to  form  an  idea  of  the 
creation  of  the  universe;  thus  when  he  deeply  considers  it,  he 
concludes  that  its  origin  must  be  from  nature  ;  and  as  the  origin 
of  nature  is  the  sun,  he  conceives  that  the  universe  pro- 
ceeded from  the  sun  as  its  creator.  Moreover,  no  one  can  form 
a  right  conception  of  spiritual  influx,  unless  he  knows  the  ori- 
gin of  it ;  for  all  influx  proceeds  from  a  sun,  spiritual  influx 
from  its  sun,  and  natural  influx  from  its  sun  ;  thus  the  internal 
sight  of  man,  which  is  that  of  his  mind,  receives  influx  from 
the  spiritual  sun,  but  his  external  sight,  which  is  that  of  his 
v>£j>  receives  influx  from  the  natural  sun  ;  but,  in  operation, 
DOtn  act  in  conjunction,  just  as  the  soul  acts  in  conjunction  with 
the  body.  Hence  it  is  evident  into  whjtf  UVIndness,  darkness, 
and  fatuity  they  may  fall,  who  have  no  knowledge  of  the  spi- 
ritual world  and  its  sun  ;  they  may  fall  into  blindness,  because 
the  inind  which  judges  by  the  sight  of  the  eye  alone,  becomes 
in  its  reasonings  like  a  bat,  which  flies  by  night  with  a  wan- 
dering course,  and  is  attracted  by  a  mere  linen  cloth  that  may 
any  where  be  hanging  up ;  they  may  fall  into  darkness,  be- 
cause the  sight  of  the  mind,  when  the  sight  of  the  eye  flows 
into  it  from  without,  is  deprived  of  all  spiritual  light,  and  be- 
comes like  the  sight  of  an  owl ;  and  they  may  fallinto/afaatfy, 
because  the  man  still  continues  to  think,  but  he  thinks  from, 
natural  things  concerning  spiritual  things,  and  not  contrariwise; 
thus  he  thinks  like  a  madman,  a  fool,  and  an  idiot. 

HI.  That  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world  is  pure   love,  fron 
Jehovah  God,  who  is  in  the  midst  of  it. 

5.  Spiritual  things  cannot  proceed  from  any  other  source  thai 
from  love,  nor  love  from  any  other  source  than  Jehovah  God,  who 
is  Love  itself:  hence  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  from  which, ab 
their  fountain,  all  spiritual  things  issue,  is  pure  love  proceeding 
from  Jehovah  God,  who  is  in  the  midst  of  it.  That  sun  is  not  it- 
self God,  but  it  is  an  emanation  from  God,  being  the  proximate 
sphere  diffused  around  him  and  proceeding  from  him.  By 

263 


6,    6  THE    INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN 

means  of  this  sun,  the  universe  was  created  by  Jehovah  God 
by  the  universe,  we  mean,  the  whole  expanse  of  worlds,  which 
are  as  many  as  the  stars  in  the  expanse  of  our  heaven).  Crea- 
tion was  effected  by  means  of  that  sun,  which  is  pure  love, 
thus  by  Jehovah  God,  because  love  is  the  very  ease  of  life,  and 
wisdom  is  the  existere  of  life  thence  derived,  and  all  things 
were  created  from  love  by  wisdom;  this  is  meant  by  these 
words  in  John:  "The  Word  was  with  God,  and  God  was  the 
Word ;  all  things  were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  nothing 
was  made  which  was  made  ;  and  the  world  was  made  by  him 
i.  3,  10 :  the  Word  here  is  the  Divine  Truth,  thus  likewise  the 
Divine  Wisdom ;  wherefore,  also,  the  Word  is  called,  ver.  9, 
the  light  which  illuminates  every  man  :  in  like  manner  the  Di- 
vine Wisdom  illuminates  by  means  of  the  Divine  Truth.  They 
#ho  deduce  the  origin  of  worlds  from  any  other  source  than 
the  Divine  Love  operating  by  the  Divine  Wisdom,  fall  into 
hallucinations  like  those  of  persons  disordered  in  the  brain, 
who  see  spectres  as  men,  phantoms  as  luminous  objects,  and 
imaginary  entities  as  real  figures  :  for  the  created  universe  is  a 
coherent  work,  originating  from  love  operating  by  wisdom ;  as 
you  will  see,  if  you  are  able  to  examine  the  chain  of  things  in 
their  order,  from  those  which  are  first  to  those  which  are  last. 
As  God  is  one,  bo  also  the  spiritual  sun  is  one ;  for  the  exten- 
sion of  space  is  not  predicable  of  spiritual  things,  which  are  the 
derivations  of  that  sun  ;  and  essence  and  existence  that  are  in- 
dependent of  space  are  present  everywhere  in  space  without 
space :  thus  the  Dhine  Love  is  present  from  the  beginning  of 
the  universe  to  ail  its  boundaries.  That  the  Divine  fills  all 
things,  and  by  such  impletion  preserves  them  in  the  state  in 
which  they  were  created,  is  a  truth  of  which  the  rational  fac- 
ulty has  a  distant  apprehension ;  which  becomes  a  nearer  one, 
in  proportion  as  the  mind  has  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of 
love,  as  it  is  in  itself;  of  its  conjunction  with  wisdom  for  the 
perception  of  ends  ;  of  its  influx  into  wisdom  for  the  exhibition 
of  causes  ;  and  of  its  operation  by  means  of  wisdom  for  the  pro- 
duction of  effects. 

IY.  That  from  that  sun  proceed  heat  and  light;  and  that 
the  heat  proceeding  from  it  in  its  essence  is  love,  andtlie  light 
thence  in  its  essence  is  wisdom. 

6.  It  is  known  that  in  the  Word,  and  thence  in  the  common 
language  of  preachers,  fire  is  mentioned  to  express  Divine  Love ; 
thus  it  is  usual  to  pray,  that  heavenly  fire  may  fill  the  heart  and 
kindle  holy  desires  to  worship  God  :  the  reason  of  which  is,  be- 
cause fire  corresponds  to  love,  and  thence  signifies  it.  Hence  it  is 
that  Jehovah  God  was  seen  by  Moses,  as  a  fire,  in  a  bush  ;  as 
also  by  the  children  of  Israel  at  Mount  Sinai  ;  and  that  lire  was 
264 


THE    SOUL    AND   THE    BODY.  6,    7 

commanded  to  be  perpetually  kept  upon  the  altar,  and  tht 
lights  of  the  candlestick  in  the  tabernacle  to  be  lighted  every 
evening :  these  commands  were  given  because  fire  signifies  love. 
That  such  fire  has  heat  proceeding  from  it,  appears  manifestly 
from  the  effects  of  love  :  thus,  a  man  is  set  on  fire,  grows  warm, 
and  becomes  inflamed,  as  his  love  is  exalted  into  zeal,  or  into 
red-hot  anger.  The  heat  of  the  blood,  or  the  vital  heat  of  rne« 
and  of  animals  in  general,  proceeds  solely  from  love,  which 
constitutes  their  life.  Neither  is  infernal  fire  any  thing  else 
than  love  opposite  to  heavenly  love.  This  then  is  the  reason 
that  the  Divine  Love  appears  to  the  angels  as  the  sun  in  their 
world,  with  the  aspect  of  a  globe  of  fire,  like  our  sun,  as  was 
said  above ;  and  that  the  angels  enjoy  heat  according  to  their 
reception  of  love  from  Jehovah  God  by  means  of  that  sun.  It 
follows  from  hence,  that  the  light  there  is  in  its  essence  wis- 
dom ;  for  love  and  wisdom,  like  esse  and  existere,  are  incapa- 
ble of  being  divided,  since  love  exists  by  means  of  wisdom  and 
according  to  it.  This  resembles  a  familiar  phenomenon  in  our 
world :  at  the  time  of  spring,  heat  unites  itself  with  light,  and 
causes  the  vegetable  creation  to  bud,  and  at  length  to  bear  fruit. 
Moreover,  every  one  knows  experimentally,  that  spiritual  heat 
is  love  and  spiritual  light  is  wisdom  ;  for  a  man  grows  warm 
in  proportion  as  he  feels  love,  and  has  a  perception  of  ligjit  in 
his  understanding  in  proportion  as  he  attains  wisdom.  Ihave 
often  seen  that  spiritual  li-ght,  which  immensely  exceeds  natural 
light  in  clearness  and  in  splendor,  for  it  is  as  clearness  ana 
splendor  themselves  in  their  very  essence  ;  it  appears  like  re- 
splendent and  dazzling  snow,  such  as  the  garments  of  the  Lord 
appeared  when  he  was  transfigured,  Mark  ix.  3 ;  Luke  ix.  28. 
As  light  is  wisdom,  therefore  the  Lord  calls  himself  the  Light 
which  illuminates  every  man,  John  i.  9 ;  a-nd  says  in  other 
places,  that  he  is  the  Light,  John  iii.  19  ;  viii.  12  ;  xii.  35,  36, 
47,  that  is,  that  he  is  Divine  Truth  itself,  which  is  the  Word, 
thus  Wisdom  itself.  It  is  commonly  imagined  that  natural  light, 
which  is  the  same  as  the  light  of  reason,  proceeds  from  the 
light  of  our  world  :  but  it  proceeds  from  the  light  of  the  spirit- 
ual world  ;  for  the  sight  of  the  mind  flows  into  the  sight  of 
the  eye,  thus  also  the  light  of  the  spiritual  world  into  the  light 
of  the  natural  world,  but  not  contrariwise  :  if  the  contrary  took 
place,  there  would  be  physical  influx  and  not  spiritual  influx. 

V.  That  both  that  heat  and  that  light  flow  into  man,  the 
heat  into  his  will,  where  it  produces  the  good  of  love,  and  the 
light  into  his  understanding,  where  it  produces  the  truth  of 
wisdom. 

7.  It  is  known  that  all  things  universally  have  relation  to 
good  and  truth,  and  that  there  is  not  a  single  object  in  exist- 

265 


7,    g  THE   INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

ence  which  has  not  something  relative  to  those  two  principles. 
On  this  account,  there  are  in  man  two  receptacles  of  life,  one, 
which  is  the  receptacle  of  good,  called  the  will,  and  another, 
which  is  the  receptacle  of  truth,  called  the  understanding;  and 
as  good  belongs  to  love,  and  truth  to  wisdom,  the  will  is  the 
receptacle  of  love,  and  the  understanding  is  the  receptacle  of 
wisdom.  That  good  belongs  to  love,  is  evident  from  this  con- 
sideration ;  that  what  a  man  loves,  this  he  wills,  and  when  he 
brings  it  into  act  he  calls  it  good  ;  and  that  truth  belongs  to 
wisdom  appears  hence,  that  all  wisdom  is  composed  of  truths  ; 
even  the  good  which  a  wise  man  thinks,  is  truth,  which  be- 
comes good  when  he  wills  it  and  does  it.  He  who  does  not  rightly 
distinguish  between  these  two  receptacles  of  life,  which  are 
the  will  and  the  understanding,  and  does  not  form  to  himself 
a  clear  notion  respecting  them,  will  in  vain  endeavor  to  com- 
prehend the  nature  of  spiritual  influx  :  for  there  is  influx  into 
the  will,  and  there  is  influx  into  the  understanding ;  there  is 
an  influx  of  the  good  of  love  into  the  will  of  man,  and  there  is 
an^influx  of  the  truth  of  wisdom  into  his  understanding;  each 
proceeding  from  Jehovah  God  immediately,  by  the  sun  in  the 
midst  of  which  he  is,  and  mediately,  by  the  angelic  heaven. 
These  two  receptacles,  the  will  and  the  understanding,  are  as 
distinct  as  heat  and  light  are  ;  for  the  will  receives  the  heat  of 
heaven,  which  in  its  essence  is  love,  and  the  understanding  re- 
ceives the  light  of  heaven,  which  in  its  essence  is  wisdom  ;  as 
was  said  above.  There  is  an  influx  from  the  human  mind  into 
the  speech,  and  there  is  an  influx  into  the  actions  ;  the  influx 
into  the  speech  takes  place  from  the  will  by  the  understanding, 
and  the  influx  into  the  actions  takes  place  from  the  understand- 
ing by  the  will.  They  who  are  only  acquainted  with  the  in- 
flux into  the  understanding,  and  not  at  the  same  time  with  that 
into  the  will,  are  like  persons  having  but  one  eye,  who  only 
see  the  objects  on  one  side  of  them,  and  not  those  on  the  other ; 
and  they  are  like  persons  who  are  maimed,  who  do  their  work 
awkwardly  with  one  hand  only  ;  and  they  are  like  persons  that 
are  lame,  who  walk  by  hopping  on  one  foot,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  a  crutch.  From  these  few  observations  it  is  plain,  that 
spiritual  heat  flows  into  the  will  of  man,  and  produces  the  good 
of  love,  and  that  spiritual  light  flows  into  his  understanding, 
and  produces  the  truth  of  wisdom. 

YI.   That  those  two  elements,  viz.  heat   and   light,  or  lov 
and  wisdom,  flow  conjointly  from  God  into  the  soul  of  man, 
and   by  this   into   the  mind,  its   affections  and   thoughts,  and 
from  these  into  the  senses,  speech,  and  actions  of  the  body. 

8.  The  spiritual  influx  hitherto  treated  of  by  men  of  learn- 
ing, is,  the  influx  from  the  soul  into  the  body ;  but  they  have 
26B 


THE    SOUL    AND    THE    BODY.  8 

not  noticed  the  prior  influx  into  the  soul,  and  by  that  into  the 
body.     It  nevertheless  is  well  known,  that  all  the  good  of  love, 
and  all  the  truth  of  faith,  flow  from  God  into  man,  and  that  no 
portion  of  them  is  from  man  himself ;  and  whatever  flows  from 
God  flows  proximately  into  his  soul,  and  by  the  soul  into  the 
rational  mind,  and  by  this  into  the  organs  which  constitute  the 
body.  Any  person,  then,  who  investigates  the  nature  of  spirit- 
ual influx  without  taking  this  into  the  account,  is  like  one  who 
stops  up  the  stream  of  a  fountain  and  still  looks  there  for  un- 
failing waters  ;  or  one  who  deduces  the  origin  of  a  tree  from  the 
branch  and  not  from  the  seed;  or  one  who  examines  principiates* 
without  attending  to  the  first  principle.  For  the  soul  is  not  life 
in  itself,  but  is  a  recipent  of  life  from  God,  who  is  life  in  itself; 
and  all  influx  belongs  to  life,  thus  is  from  God.     This  is  meant 
by  this  passage :  "  Jehovah  God  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of 
She  man  the  breath  of  life  [lives],  and  the  man  became  a  living 
soul,"  Gen.  ii.  7  :  to  breathe  into  the  nostrils  the  breath  of  life 
[lives],  signifies,  to  implant  the  perception  of  good  and  truth. 
The  Lord  also  says  of  himself,  "  As  the  Father  hath  life  in  him- 
Belf,  so  hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself,"  John 
v.  26 ;  to  have  life  in  himself  is  to  be  God :  and  the  life  of  the 
Boul  is  life  influent  from  God.     Now  forasmuch  as  all  influx 
oelongs  to  life,  and  life  operates  by  means  of  its  receptacles  , 
and  the  inmost  or  first  of  the  receptacles  in  man  is  his  soul , 
therefore,  in  order  that  the  nature  of  influx  may  be  rightly  ap 
prehended,  it  is  necessary  to  begin  frojn  God,  and  not  from  ai» 
intermediate  station.     Were  we  to  begin  from  an  intermediate 
station,  our  doctrine  of  influx  would  be  like  a  chariot  without 
wheels,  or  like  a  ship  without  sails.  This  being  the  case,  there- 
fore, in  the  preceding  articles  we  have  treated  of  the  sun  of  the 
spiritual  world,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  Jehovah  God,  n.  5  ; 
and  of  the  influx  of  love  and  wisdom,  thus  of  life,  n.  6,  7.     The 
reason  that  life  from  God  flows  into  man  by  the  soul,  and  by 
this  into  the  mind,  that  is,  into  the  affections  and  thoughts  of 
the  mind,  and  from  these  into  the  senses,  speech,  and  actions 
of  the  body,  is,  because  these  are  the  subjects  of  life  in  suc- 
cessive order.  For  the  mind  is  subordinate  to  the  soul,  and  the 
body  is  subordinate  to  the  mind  :  and  the  mind  has  two  lives, 
one  belonging  to  the  will  and  another  to  the  understanding ; 
the  life  of  its  will  is  the  good  of  love,  the  derivations  of  which 
are  called  affections ;  and  the  life  of  its  understanding  is  the 
truth  of  wisdom,  the  derivations  of  which  are  called  thoughts: 
by  means  of  these  and  the  former,  the  mind  lives :  but  the  life 
of  the  body  are  the  senses,  speech,  and  actions :  that  these  are 
derived  from  the  soul  by  the  mind,  follows  from  the  order  in 
which  they  stand,  and  from  which  they  manifest  themselves 
to  a  wise  man  without  scrutiny.     The  human  soul,  being  ft 

*  A.  logical  term,  denoting  things  derived  from  a  first  principle. 

267 


9  THE    INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN 

superior  spiritual  substance,  receives  influx  immediate  jy  from 
God  ;  but  the  human  mind,  being  an  inferior  spiritual  substance, 
receives  influx  from  God  mediately  by  the  spiritual  world  ;  and 
the  body,  being  composed  of  the  substances  of  nature,  which 
are  called  matter,  receives  influx  from  God  mediately  by  the 
natural  world.  That  the  good  of  love  and  the  truth  of  wisdom, 
flow  from  God  into  the  soul  of  man  conjointly,  that  is,  united 
into  one,  but  that  they  are  divided  by  man  in  their  progress, 
and  are  conjoined  only  with  those  who  suffer  themselves  to  be 
led  by  God,  will  be  seen  in  the  following  articles. 

VII.  That  the  sun  of  the  natural  world  is  pure  jure  ;  and 
that  the  world  of  nature  first  existed  and  continually  subsists 
l>y  means  of  this  sun. 

9.  That  nature  and  its  world,  by  which  we  mean  the  atmos 
pheres  and  the  earths  which  are  called  planets,  among  which 
is  the  terraqueous  globe  on  which  we  dwell,  together  with  all 
the  productions  which  annually  adorn  its  surface,  subsist  solely 
from  the  sun,  which  constitutes  their  centre,  and  which,  by  the 
rays  of  its  light,  and  the  modifications  of  its  heat,  is  every- 
where present,  every  one  knows  for  certain,  from  his  own  ex- 
perience, from  the  testimony  of  the  senses,  and  from  the  writings 
of  those  who  have  treated  of  such  subjects:  and  as  these  things 
owe  their  perpetual  subsistence  to  the  sun,  reason  may  with  cer- 
tainty conclude,  that  they  owe  their  existence  also  to  the  same  ; 
for  perpetually  to  subsist  is  perpetually  to  exist  as  they  first 
existed ;  hence  it  follows,  that  the  natural  world  was  created 
by  Jehovah  God  by  means  of  this  sun  as  a  secondary  cause. 
That  there  are  spiritual  existences  and  natural  existences,  which 
are  entirely  distinct  from  each  other  ;  and  that  the  origin  and 
support  of  spiritual  existences  are  derived  from  a  sun  which  is 
pure  love,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  the  Creator  and  Upholder 
:of  the  universe,  Jehovah  God,  has  been  demonstrated  before  ; 
but  that  the  origin  and  support  of  natural  existences  are  de- 
rived from  a  sun  which  is  pure  fire,  and  that  the  latter  is  de- 
rived from  the  former,  and  both  from  God,  follows  of  itself,  as 
what  is  posterior  follows  from  what  is  prior,  and  what  is  prior 
from  the  First  Cause  of  all.  That  the  sun  of  nature  and  its 
worlds  is  pure  fire  all  its  effects  demonstrate ;  as  the  concentra- 
tion of  its  rays  into  a  focus  by  the  art  of  optics,  from  which 
proceeds  fire  of  a  vehemently  burning  nature,  and  also  flame  ; 
the  nature  of  its  heat,  which  is  similar  to  heat  from  elementary 
fire  ;  the  graduation  of  that  heat  according  to  its  angle  of  in- 
cidence, whence  proceed  the  varieties  of  climate,  and  also  the 
four  seasons  of  the  year ;  beside  other  facts ;  by  which  the 
rational  faculty  may  be  confirmed,  even  by  the  senses  of  it 
body,  that  the  sun  of  the  natural  world  is  mere  fire  ;  and  also, 
'268 


THE   SOUL   AND   THE   BODY.  10 

that  it  is  fire  in  its  utmost  purity.  They  who  know  .nothing 
concerning  the  origin  of  spiritual  existences  from  their  sun, 
but  are  only  acquainted  with  the  origin  of  natural  existences 
from  theirs,  can  scarcely  avoid  confounding  spiritual  and  natu- 
ral existences  together,  and  concluding,  through  the  fallacies 
of  the  senses,  and  those  to  which  the  rational  faculty  is  sub- 
ject, that  spiritual  existences  are  nothing  but  a  pure  kind  of 
natural  existences,  and  that,  from  the  activity  of  the  latter  ex- 
cited by  heat  and  light,  arise  wisdom  and  love.  These  persons, 
since  they  see  nothing  else  with  their  eyes,  and  smell  nothing 
else  with  their  nostrils,  and  breathe  nothing  else  in  their  breast, 
than  nature,  ascribe  to  it  all  the  rational  powers  also  ;  and  thus 
they  imbibe  naturalism  as  a  sponge  sucks  up  water.  Such 
persons  may  be  compared  to  coachmen,  who  joke  the  horses 
behind  the  carriage,  and  not  before  it.  The  case  is  otherwise 
with  those  who  distinguish  between  spiritual  and  natural  ex- 
istences, and  deduce  the  latter  from  the  former ;  these,  also, 
perceive  that  there  is  an  influx  of  the  soul  into  the  body,  thus 
that  it  is  spiritual,  and  that  natural  things,  which  are  those  of 
the  body,  serve  the  soul  for  vehicles  and  mediums,  by  which 
to  produce  its  effects  in  the  natural  world.  He  who  concludes 
otherwise  may  be  compared  to  a  crab,  which  assists  its  progress 
in  walking  with  its  tail,  and  draws  its  eyes  backwards  at  every 
step  ;  and  his  rational  sight  may  be  compared  to  the  sight  of 
the  eyes  of  Argus  in  the  back  of  his  head,  when  those  in  his 
forehead  were  asleep.  Such  persons,  also,  believe  themselves 
to  be  Arguses  in  reasoning ;  for  they  say,  "  Who  does  not  see 
that  the  origin  of  the  universe  is  from  nature  ?  and  what  then 
is  God  but  the  inmost  extension  of  nature  ?"  and  the  like 
irrational  observations ;  of  which  they  boast  more  than  wise 
men  do  of  their  rational  sentiments. 

VTII.  That,  therefore,  every  thing  which  proceeds  from 
this  sun,  regarded  in  itself,  is  dead. 

10.  Who  does  not  see  from  the  rational  faculty  belonging 
to  his  understanding,  if  this  be  a  little  elevated  above  the 
sensual  faculties  of  the  body,  that  love,  regarded  in  itself,  is 
alive,  and  that  the  appearance  of  fire  which  it  assumes  is  its 
life,  and,  on  the  contrary,  that  elementary  fire,  regarded  in 
itself,  is  respectively  dead — consequently,  that  the  sun  of  the 
spiritual  world,  being  pure  love,  is  alive,  and  that  the  sun  of 
the  natural  world,  being  pure  fire,  is  dead?  and  that  the  case 
is  the  same  with  all  the  products  which  emanate  and  exist 
from  them?  There  are  two  things  which  produce  all  the 
effects  in  the  universe,  LIFE  and  NATURE  ;  and  they  produce 
them  according  to  order,  when  life,  from  within,  actuates  na- 
ture ;  the  case  is  otherwise,  when  nature,  from  without,  drawa 

269 


11  THE   INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

* 

life  to  act ;  which  takes  place  with  those  who  place  nature, 
which  in  itself  is  dead,  above  and  within  life,  and  thence 
wholly  devote  themselves  to  the  pleasures  of  the  senses,  and 
the  concupiscences  of  the  flesh,  esteeming  the  spiritual  con- 
cerns belonging  to  the  soul,  and  the  truly  rational  objects  be- 
longing to  the  mind,  as  nothing.  Such  persons,  on  account  oi 
this  inversion,  are  they  who  are  called  THE  DEAD  ;  such  are  all 
atheistic  naturalists  in  the  world,  and  all  satans  in  hell.  They 
are  also  called  the  dead  in  the  Word  ;  as  in  David  :  "  The? 
joined  themselves  to  Baal-peor,  and  ate  the  sacrifices  of  the 
dead"  Ps.  cvi.  28.  "  The  enemy  hath  persecuted  my  soul,  he 
hath  made  me  to  sit  in  darkness,  as  those  who  have  been  lone 
dead"  Ps.  cxliii.  3.  "To  hear  the  groaning  of  the  bound,  ai  . 
to  open  to  those  that  are  appointed  to  death"  Ps.  cii.  20  :  ai  i 
in  the  Revelation  :  "  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name- 
that  thou  lives  t,  and  art  dead;  be  watchful,  and  strengthen 
the  things  which  remain  that  are  ready  to  die"  iii.  1,  2.  Thej 
are  called  the  dead,  because  spiritual  death  is  damnation,  and 
damnation  is  the  lot  of  those  who  believe  lite  to  be  from  na- 
ture, and  thus  believe  the  light  of  nature  to  be  the  light  of 
life,  and  thereby  bury,  suffocate,  and  extinguish  every  idea  oi 
God,  of  heaven,  and  of  eternal  life.  In  consequence  of  so 
doing,  such  persons  are  like  owls,  which  see  light  in  darkness, 
and  darkness  in  light :  that  is,  they  see  false  sentiments  as 
true  and  evils  as  good :  and  as  the  delights  of  evil  are  the  de- 
lights of  their  hearts,  they  are  not  unlike  those  birds  and  beasts 
which  devour  dead  bodies  as  choice  delicacies,  and  scent  the 
stenches  arising  from  graves  as  balsamic  odors.  Such  persons 
can  see  no  influx  but  such  as  is  physical  or  natural ;  if,  not- 
withstanding, they  affirm  influx  to  be  spiritual,  they  do  not 
possess  any  idea  of  it,  but  merely  repeat  the  words  of  their 
preceptor. 

IX.  That  what  is  spiritual  clothes  itself  with  what  is  natu- 
ral, as  a  man  clothes  himself  vjith  a  garment. 

11.  It  is  well  known  that  both  an  active  and  a  passive  force 
are  necessary  to  every  operation,  and  that  nothing  can  be  pro- 
duced by  an  active  force  alone,  and  nothing  from  a  passive 
alone.  The  case  is  similar  with  what  is  spiritual  and  what  is 
natural ;  what  is  spiritual,  as  a  living  force,  being  active,  and 
what  is  natural,  as  a  dead  force,  being  passive.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows that  whatever  existed  in  this  solar  world  at  its  first  crea- 
tion, and  whatever  comes  into  existence  from  moment  to  mo- 
ment since,  exists  from  what  is  spiritual  by  what  is  natural : 
and  this  is  true,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  subjects  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  but  also  to  those  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
Another  fact  is  also  known  similar  to  the  former,  viz.  that  both 
270 


THE    SOUL    AND   THE   BODY.  H 

&  principal  and  an  instrumental  cause  are  necessary  to  every 
production,  and  that  these  two  causes,  when  anything  is  being 
produced,  appear  as  one,  though  they  are  distinctly  two; 
wherefore  it  is  one  of  the  canons  of  wisdom,  that  the  cause 
principal  and  the  cause  instrumental  make  together  one  cause. 
So  also  do  what  is  spiritual  and  what  is  natural.  The  reason 
that,  in  producing  effects,  these  two  forces  and  causes  appear 
as  one,  is,  because  what  is  spiritual  is  within  what  is  natural, 
as  the  fibre  is  within  the  muscle,  and  as  the  blood  is  within 
the  arteries ;  or  as  the  thought  is  inwardly  in  the  speech,  and 
the  affection  in  the  tones  of  the  voice,  causing  themselves  to 
be  apprehended  by  these  natural  instruments.  From  these 
considerations,  though,  as  yet,  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  it 
appears,  that  what  is  spiritual  clothes  itself  with  what  is  natu 
ral,  as  a  man  clothes  himself  with  a  garment.  The  organical 
body  with  which  the  soul  clothes  itself,  is  here  compared  to  a 
garment,  because  a  garment  invests  the  body ;  and  the  soul 
also  puts  off  the  body,  and  casts  it  off  as  an  old  coat,  when  it 
emigrates  by  death  from  the  natural  into  its  own  spiritual 
world  :  for  the  body  grows  old  like  a  garment,  but  not  the 
soul,  because  this  is  a  spiritual  substance,  which  has  nothing 
in  common  with  the  changes  of  nature,  which  advance  from  a 
commencement  to  an  end,  and  are  periodically  terminated. 
They  who  do  not  consider  the  body  as  the  vesture  or  covering 
of  the  soul,  and  as  being  in  itself  dead,  and  only  adapted  to 
receive  living  forces  flowing  into  it  through  the  soul  from  God, 
cannot  avoid  concluding  from  fallacies,  that  the  soul  lives  bv 
itself,  and  the  body  by  itself,  and  that  there  is,  between  their 
respective  lives,  a  PRE-ESTABLISHED  HARMONY;  and  likewise, 
that  the  life  of  the  soul  flows  into  the  life  of  the  body,  or  the 
life  of  the  body  into  the  life  of  the  soul,  indifferently,  whence 
they  conceive  INFLUX  to  be  both  SPIRITUAL  and  NATURAL  ;  when, 
nevertheless,  it  is  a  truth  which  is  testified  by  every  object  in 
creation,  that  a  posterior  existence  does  not  act  from  itself,  but 
from  the  prior  existence  from  which  it  proceeded  ;  thus  that 
neither  does  this  act  from  itself,  but  from  some  existence  still 
prior;  and  thus  that  nothing  acts  at  all  but  by  communication 
from  the  First  Cause  Itself,  which  does  act  of  itself,  and  which 
is  God.  Besides  there  is  but  one  only  life,  and  this  is  not 
capable  of  being  created,  but  is  eminently  capable  of  flowing 
into  forms  organically  adapted  to  its  reception  :  all  the  objects 
in  the  created  universe,  even  to  the  most  minute,  are  such 
forms.  It  is  believed  by  many  that  the  soul  is  itself  a  spark 
of  life,  and  thus  that  man,  since  he  lives  from  his  soul,  lives 
from  his  own  life,  thus  of  himself,  consequently,  not  by  an  in- 
flux of  life  from  God.  But  such  persons  cannot  avoid  twisting 
of  fallacies  a  sort  of  Gordian  knot  in  which  they  entangle  all 
the  judgments  of  their  mind,  till  nothing  but  insanitv,  in  re- 

'271 


12  THE    INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

gard  to  spiritual  things,  is  the  result :  or  they  construct  a  laby- 
rinth, from  which  the  mind  can  never,  by  any  clue  which  rea- 
son supplies,  retrace  its  way,  and  extricate  itself:  they  also 
actually  let  themselves  down  into  caverns  under  ground,  where 
they  dwell  in  eternal  darkness.  For  from  such  a  belief  pro- 
ceed innumerable  fallacies,  each  of  which  is  horrible  ;  as  that 
God  has  transferred  and  transcribed  himself  into  men,  whence 
every  man  is  a  sort  of  deity  that  lives  of  himself;  and  thus 
that  he  does  good,  and  enjoys  wisdom  from  himself;  likewise, 
that  he  possesses  faith  and  charity  in  himself,  and  exercises 
them  from  himself,  and  not  from  God  ;  beside  other  monstrous 
sentiments,  such  as  prevail  with  those  in  hell,  who,  when  they 
were  in  the  world,  believed  nature  to  live,  or  to  produce  life 
by  its  own  activity :  when  these  look  towards  heaven  its  light 
appears  to  them  as  mere  darkness.  I  formerly  heard  a  \oice 
saying  from  heaven,  that  if  a  spark  of  life  in  man  were  his 
own,  and  not  of  God  in  him,  there  would  be  no  heaven  nor 
anything  belonging  to  it;  whence  also,  there  could  be  no  church 
on  earth,  and,  consequently,  no  life  eternal.  For  further  par- 
ticulars relating  to  this  subject,  may  be  consulted  the  Memo- 
rable Eelation  in  the  work  on  CONJUGIAL  LOVE,  n.  132 — 136.* 

X.  That  spiritual  existences  so  clothed  in  man,  are  what  en- 
able him  to  live  as  a  rational  and  moral  man,  thus  a  spiritually 
natural  man. 

12.  From  the  principle  established  above,  viz.,  that  the  soul 
clothes  itself  with  a  body  as  a  man  clothes  himself  with  a  gar- 
ment, this  follows  as  a  conclusion  :  for  the  soul  flows  into  the 
human  mind,  and  by  this  into  the  body,  and  carries  with  it  the 
life,  which  it  continually  receives  from  the  Lord,  and  thus 
transfers  it  mediately  into  the  body,  where,  owing  to  the  close- 
ness of  its  union,  it  makes  the  body  appear  to  live  ;  whence, 
and  from  a  thousand  testimonies  of  experience,  it  is  evident, 
that  what  is  spiritual  united  to  what  is  material,  as  a  living 
force  with  a  dead  force,  causes  man  to  speak  rationally  and  to 
act  morally.  It  appears  as  if  the  tongue  and  lips  spoke  from  a 
certain  life  in  themselves,  and  as  if  the  arms  and  hands  acted 
in  a  like  manner;  but  it  is  the  thought,  which  in  itself  is  spi- 
ritual, which  speaks,  and  the  will,  which  likewise  is  spiritual, 
which  acts,  each  by  its  own  organs,  which  in  themselves  are 
material,  being  taken  from  the  natural  world.  That  this  is  the 
case,  appears  in  the  light  of  day,  provided  this  consideration  be 
attended  to.  Remove  thought  from  speech,  is  not  the  tongue 
dumb  in  a  moment?  so,  remove  will  from  action,  and  do  not 
the  hands  in  a  moment  become  still  ?  Spiritual  existences  in 

*  And  in  the  TRUE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION,  n.  48. 

272 


THE    SOUL    AND    THE    BODY.  12.    13 

this  state  of  union  with  natural,  and  the  consequent  appear- 
ance of  life  in  material  objects,  may  be  compared  to  generous 
wine  when  absorbed  by  a  clean  sponge,  to  the  saccharine  juice 
in  a  grape,  to  the  savory  liquor  in  an  apple,  and  to  the  aro- 
matic odor  in  cinnamon  ;  the  iibres  con  taming  these  things  are 
portions  of  matter,  which  have  neither  taste  nor  smell  of  them- 
selves, but  derive  them  from  the  fluids  in  and  between  them ; 
wherefore,  if  you  squeeze  out  those  juices,  they  become  dead 
filaments  ;  such  are  the  organs  proper  to  the  body,  if  life  be 
taken  away.  That  man  is  a  rational  being  by  virtue  of  the 
union  in  him  of  spiritual  existences  with  natural,  is  evident 
from  the  analytical  nature  of  his  thoughts ;  and  that  he  is  a 
moral  being  from  the  same  cause,  is  evident  from  the  propriety 
of  his  actions  and  the  graces  of  his  demeanor ;  these  he  pos- 
sesses by  virtue  of  his  faculty  of  being  able  to  receive  influx 
from  the  Lord  through  the  angelic  heaven,  which  is  the  very 
abode  of  wisdom  and  love,  thus  of  rationality  and  morality. 
Hence  it  may  be  perceived,  that  a  spiritual  and  a  natural  con- 
stitution being  united  in  man,  is  what  enables  him  to  live  as  a 
spiritually  natural  man.  The  reason  that  he  lives  in  a  similar 
and  yet  dissimilar  manner  after  death,  is,  because  his  soul  18 
then  clothed  with  a  substantial  body,  as  in  the  world  it  was 
clothed  with  a  material  body.  It  is  believed  by  many,  that 
the  perceptions  and  thoughts  of  the  mind,  being  spiritual,  flow 
in  naked,  and  not  by  means  of  organized  forms  ;  but  let  them 
dream  thus  who  have  not  seen  the  interiors  of  the  head,  where 
the  perceptions  and  thoughts  reside  in  their  first  principles,  and 
who  are  ignorant  that  it  contains  the  brains,  interwoven  and 
composed  of  the  cineritious  and  medullary  substances,  to- 
gether with  glands,  cavities,  and  septa,  and  with  meninges  and 
matres  surrounding  them  all ;  and  who,  likewise,  do  not  know 
that  a  man  thinks  and  wills  soundly  or  insanely  according  as 
all  these  organs  are  in  a  state  of  integrity  or  derangement,  con- 
sequently, that  he  is  rational  and  moral  according  to  the  or- 
ganic structure  of  his  mind.  For  the  rational  sight  of  man, 
which  is  the  understanding  without  forms  organized  for  the 
reception  of  spiritual  light,  would  be  an  abstract  nothing,  just 
as  his  natural  sight  would  be  without  the  eyes  ;  and  so  in  re- 
gard to  the  other  mental  functions. 

XL    That  the  reception  of  that  influx   is   according  to   the 
state  of  love  and  wisdom  with  man. 

13.  That  man  is  not  life,  but  an  organ  recipient  of  life  from 
God,  and  that  love  in  union  with  wisdom  is  life ;  also,  that 
God  is  Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself,  and  thus  Life  itself,  has 
been  demonstrated  above ;  hence  it  follows,  that  so  far  as  a 
man  loves  wisdom,  or  so  far  as  wisdom  embosomed  in  love  is 
[18]  273 


13  THE   INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

within  him,  so  far  he  is  an  image  of  God,  that  is,  a  receptacU 
of  life  from  God  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  that  so  far  as  he  is 
possessed  by  opposite  love  and  thence  by  insanity,  so  far  he 
does  not  receive  life  from  God,  but  from  hell,  which  life  is  call- 
ed death.  Love  and  wisdom  themselves  are  not  life,  but  are 
the  esse  of  life ;  but  the  delights  of  love  and  the  amenities  of 
wisdom,  which  are  the  affections  of  them,  constitute  life,  for  by 
these  the  esse  of  life  comes  into  existence.  The  influx  of  life 
from  God  carries  with  it  those  delights  and  amenities,  like  the 
influx  of  light  and  heat  at  the  time  of  spring  into  the  human 
minds,  and  also  into  birds  and  beasts  of  every  kind,  yea,  into 
vegetables,  which  then  germinate  and  become  prolific  :  for  the 
delights  of  love  and  the  amenities  of  wisdom  expand  men's 
minds  and  adapt  them  to  the  reception  of  the  influx  of  life  from 
God,  as  joy  and  gladness  expand  the  face,  and  adapt  it  to  the 
influx  ol  the  hilarities  of  the  soul.  The  man  who  is  affected 
with  the  love  of  wisdom,  is  like  the  garden  in  Eden,  in  which 
are  two  trees,  the  tree  of  life,  and  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil ;  the  tree  of  life  is  the  Deception  of  love  and  wis- 
dom from  God,  and  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil 
is  the  reception  of  them  from  self :  the  man  who  eats  of  the 
tatter  tree  'B  insane,  but  still  believes  himself  to  be  wise  like 
God ;  but  the  man  who  eats  of  the  former  tree  is  truly  wise, 
and  believes  no  one  to  be  wise  but  God  alone,  and  that  man  is 
wise  so  far  as  he  believes  this,  and  the  more  so  as  he  feels  that 
he  wills  it.  But  more  on  this  subject  may  be  seen  in  the  Me- 
morable Eelation  in  the  work  on  CONJUGIAL  LOVE,  n.  132 — 
136.*  I  will  here  add  an  arcanum  continuing  these  facts  from 
heaven :  All  the  angels  of  heaven  turn  the  fore  part  of  the 
head  towards  the  Lord  as  a  sun,  and  all  the  angels  of  hell  turn 
the  back  of  the  head  to  Him,  and  the  latter  receive  the  influx 
into  the  affections  of  their  will,  which  in  themselves  are  con- 
cupiscences, and  make  the  understanding  favor  them,  but  the 
former  receive  the  influx  into  the  affections  of  their  understand- 
ing, and  make  the  will  favor  them,  whence  these  are  in  the 
enjoyment  of  wisdom,  but  the  others  are  possessed  by  insanity. 
For  the  human  understanding  has  its  seat  in  the  cerebrum, 
which  is  under  the  forehead,  and  the  will  in  the  cerebellum, 
which  is  in  the  back  of  the  head.  "Who  does  not  know  that  a 
man  who  is  insane  through  cherishing  false  sentiments,  favors 
the  lusts  of  his  own  evil,  and  confirms  them  by  reasons  drawn 
from  the  understanding ;  whereas  a  wise  man  sees  from  truths 
the  quality  of  the  lusts  of  his  own  will,  and  restrains  them? 
A  wise  man  does  this,  because  he  turns  his  face  to  God,  that 
is,  he  believes  in  God,  and  not  in  himself;  but  an  insane  man 
does  the  other,  because  he  averts  his  face  from  God,  that  is,  he 

*  Or  T-RUE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION,  n.  48. 
274 


THE    SOUL    AND    THE    BODY.  13,    14 

believes  'n  himself,  and  not  in  God.  For  a  man  to  believe  in 
himself  is  to  believe  that  he  enjoys  love  and  wisdom  from  him- 
self, and  not  from  God  ;  and  this  is  signified  by  eating  of  the 
tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil :  but  for  a  man  to  be- 
lieve in  God,  is  to  believe  that  he  enjoys  love  and  wisdom  from 
Gud,  and  not  from  himself;  and  this  is  signified  by  eating  of 
the  tree  of  life.  Rev.  ii.  7.  From  these  considerations  it  may 
be  perceived,  but  still  only  with  a  degree  of  clearness  answer- 
ing to  the  light  of  the  moon  by  night,  that  the  reception  of  the 
influx  of  life  from  God  is  according  to  the  state  of  love  and 
wisdom  with  man.  This  influx  may  further  be  illustrated  by 
the  influx  of  light  and  heat  into  vegetables,  which  blossom 
and  bear  fruit  according  to  the  structure  of  the  fibres  which 
form  them,  thus  according  to  their  reception  of  the  light  and 
heat ;  it  may  also  be  illustrated  by  the  influx  of  the  rays  of 
light  into  precious  stones,  which  modify  them  into  colors  ac- 
cording to  the  situation  of  the  parts  composing  them,  thus  also 
according  to  their  reception  of  the  rays  ;  and  likewise  by  op- 
tical glasses  and  the  drops  of  rain,  which  exhibit  rainbows  ac- 
cording to  the  incidence,  the  refraction,  and  thus  the  reception 
of  the  light.  The  case  is  similar  with  human  minds  in  respect 
to  spiritual  light,  which  proceeds  from  the  Lord  as  a  sun,  and 
perpetually  flows  in,  but  is  variously  received. 

XTT.  That  the  understanding  in  man  is  capable  of  being 
elevated  into  the  light,  that  is,  into  the  wisdom,  in  which 
are  the  angels  of  heaven,  according  to  the  improvement  of  his 
rational  faculty  /  and  that  his  will  is  capable  of  being  elevated, 
in  like  manner,  into  the  heat  of  heaven,  that  is,  into  the  love 
of  heaven,  according  to  the  deeds  of  his  Life  ;  hut  that  the  love 
of  the  will  is  not  elevated,  except  so  far  as  man  wills  and  does 
those  things  which  the  wisdom  of  the  understanding  teaches. 

14.  By  the  human  mind  are  to  be  understood  its  two  facul- 
ties, which  are  called  the  understanding  and  the  will.  The  un- 
derstanding is  the  receptacle  of  the  light  of  heaven,  which  in 
its  essence  is  wisdom  ;  and  the  will  is  the  receptacle  of  the  heat 
of  heaven,  which  in  its  essence  is  love,  as  was  shown  above. 
These  two  principles,  wisdom  and  love,  proceed  from  the  Lord 
as  a  sun,  and  flow  into  heaven  universally  and  individually, 
whence  the  angels  have  wisdom  and  love  ;  and  they  also  flow 
into  this  world  universally  and  individually,  whence  men  have 
wisdom  and  love.  But  the  two  principles  proceed  in  union 
from  the  Lord,  and  likewise  flow  in  union  into  the  souls  of  an- 
gels and  men  ;  but  they  are  not  received  in  union  in  their 
minds ;  light,  which  forms  the  understanding,  being  first  re- 
ceived there,  and  love,  which  forms  the  will,  being  received 
gradually.  This  also  is  of  Providence :  for  every  man  is  to  be 

275 


14  THE   INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

created  anew,  that  i&,  reformed,  and  this  is  effected  by  means 
of  the  understanding ;  for  he  must  imbibe  from  infancy  the 
knowledges  of  truth  and  good,  which  are  to  teach  him  to  live 
well,  that  is,  to  will  and  act  rightly  :  thus  the  will  is  formed 
by  means  of  the  understanding.  For  the  sake  of  this  end,  there 
is  given  to  man  the  faculty  of  elevating  his  understanding  al 
most  into  the  light  which  is  enjoyed  by  the  angels  of  heaven, 
that  he  may  see  what  he  ought  to  will  and  thence  to  do,  in 
order  that  he  may  be  prosperous  in  the  world  for  a  time,  and 
blessed  after  death  to  eternity.  He  becomes  prosperous  ana 
blessed,  if  he  procures  to  himself  wisdom,  and  keeps  his  will 
under  its  obedience  ;  but  unprosperous  and  unhappy  if  he  puts 
his  understanding  under  obedience  to  his  will :  the  reason  is, 
because  the  will  hereditarily  tends  to  evils,  even  to  those  which 
are  enormous ;  wherefore,  unless  it  were  restrained  by  means 
of  the  understanding,  man  would  rush  into  acts  of  wickedness, 
yea,  from  his  inherent  savage  nature,  he  would  destroy  and 
slaughter,  for  the  sake  of  himself,  all  who  did  not  favor  and 
indulge  him.  Besides,  unless  the  understanding  could  be 
separately  perfected,  and  the  will  by  means  of  it,  man  would 
not  be  a  man  but  a  beast.  For  without  that  separation,  and 
without  the  ascent  of  the  understanding  above  the  will,  he 
would  not  be  able  to  think,  and  from  thought  to  speak,  but 
only  to  express  his  affection  by  sounds  ;  neither  would  he  be 
able  to  act  from  reason,  but  only  from  instinct ;  still  less  would 
he  be  able  to  know  the  things  which  are  of  God,  and  God  by 
means  of  them,  and  thus  to  be  conjoined  to  Him,  and  to  live 
to  eternity.  For  man  thinks  and  wills  as  from  himself,  ^  and 
this,  as  from  himself,  is  what  gives  him  the  faculty  of  recipro- 
cal conjunction :  for  there  can  be  no  conjunction  without  re- 
ciprocality,  just  as  there  can  be  no  conjunction  of  an  active 
with  a  passive  force  without  re-action.  God  alone  acts,  and 
man  suffers  himself  to  be  acted  on,  and  re-acts  in  all  appear- 
ance as  from  himself,  though  interiorly  it  is  from  God.  From 
these  considerations,  rightly  apprehended,  may  be  seen  what 
is  the  nature  of  the  will  of  man  if  it  is  elevated  by  means  of 
the  understanding,  and  what  is  its  nature  if  it  is  not  elevated, 
consequently  what  is  the  nature  of  the  man.  But  the  latter  sub- 
ject, viz.,  what  is  the  nature  of  man  if  the  love  of  his  will  is 
not  elevated  by  means  of  the  understanding,  shall  be  illustrated 
by  comparisons.  He  is  like  an  eagle  flying  on  high,  which,  aa 
soon  as  it  sees  the  food  below  which  is  the  object  of  its  lust, 
as  chickens,  young  swans,  or  even  young  lambs,  casts  itself 
down  in  a  moment  and  devours  them.  He  is  also  like  an  adul- 
terer, who  conceals  a  harlot  in  a  cellar  below,  and  who  by 
turns  goes  up  to  the  highest  apartments  of  the  house,  and  dis 
courses  wisely  with  those  who  dwell  there  concerning  chastity 
and  alternately  withdraws  from  the  compan  ythere,  and  ir 
276 


THE   SOUL   AND    THE   BODY.  15 

dulges  himself  below  with  his  harlot.  He  is  also  like  a  thief 
on  a  tower,  who  there  pretends  to  act  the  part  of  a  watchman, 
but  who,  as  soon  as  he  sees  any  object  of  plunder  below,  hastens 
down  and  seizes  it.  He  may  also  be  compared  to  gnats,  which 
fly  in  a  column  over  the  head  of  a  horse  while  he  is  running, 
but  which  fall  down  when  the  horse  stops,  and  immerse  them- 
selves in  the  marsh.  Such  is  the  man  whose  will  or  love  is 
not  elevated  by  means  of  the  understanding ;  for  he  then  re- 
mains stationary  below,  immersed  in  the  uncleanness  of  nature 
and  the  lusts  of  the  senses.  The  case  is  altogether  otherwise 
with  those  who  subdue  the  allurements  of  the  lusts  of  the  will 
by  the  wisdom  belonging  to  the  understanding.  With  these, 
the  understanding  afterwards  enters  into  a  marriage  covenant 
with  the  will ;  thus  wisdom  with  love,  and  they  dwell  together 
in  the  upper  apartment  with  the  utmost  delight. 

XHI.  That  it  is  altogether  otherwise  with  Beasts. 

15.  They  who  judge  of  things  only  as  they  appear  before 
the  senses  of  the  'body,  conclude  that  beasts  have  will  and  un- 
derstanding as  well  as  men,  and  hence  that  the  only  distinction 
consists  in  man's  being  able  to  speak,  and  thus  to  describe  the 
things  which  he  thinks  and  desires,  while  beasts  can  only  ex- 
press them  by  sounds.  Beasts,  however,  have  not  will  and 
understanding,  but  only  a  resemblance  of  each,  which  the 
learned  call  an  analogous  endowment.  A  man  is  a  man,  be- 
cause his  understanding  is  capable  of  being  elevated  above  the 
desires  of  his  will,  and  it  thus  can  know  and  see  them,  and  also 
govern  them ;  but  a  beast  is  a  beast,  because  its  desires  drive 
it  to  do  whatever  it  does.  A  man,  then,  is  a  man,  in  conse- 
quence of  this,  that  his  will  is  under  obedience  to  his  under- 
standing ;  but  a  beast  is  a  beast  in  consequence  of  this,  that 
its  understanding  is  under  obedience  to  its  will.  From  these 
considerations  this  conclusion  follows,  viz.,  That  the  under 
standing  of  man,  forasmuch  as  it  receives  the  light  influent 
from  heaven,  and  apprehends  and  perceives  this  as  its  own 
and  thinks  from  it  analytically,  with  all  variety,  altogether  as 
from  itself,  is  alive,  and  is  thence  truly  understanding ;  and 
that  the  will  of  man,  forasmuch  as  it  receives  the  influent  love 
of  heaven,  and  acts  from  it  as  from  itself,  is  alive,  and  is  thence 
truly  will ;  but  that  the  contrary  is  the  case  with  beasts. 
Wherefore  they  who  think  under  the  influence  of  the  lusts  of 
the  will,  are  compared  to  beasts,  and  in  the  spiritual  world 
they  likewise  at  a  distance  appear  as  beasts ;  they  also  act 
like  beasts,  with  this  only  difference,  that  they  are  able  to  act 
otherwise  if  they  will :  but  they  who  restrain  the  lusts  of  their 
will  by  means  of  the  understanding,  appear  in  the  spiritual 
world  as  men,  and  are  angels  of  heaven.  In  a  word,  the  will 

277 


15  THE    INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN 

and  the  understanding  in  beasts  always  cohere,  and  forasmuch 
as  the  will  is  blind,  being  the  receptacle  of  heat  and  not  oi 
light,  it  makes  the  understanding  blind  also :  hence  a  beast 
does  not  know  and  understand  its  own  actions,  and  yet  it  acts, 
for  it  acts  by  an  influx  from  the  spiritual  world ;  and  such  ac- 
tion is  instinct.  It  is  imagined  that  a  beast  thinks  from  under- 
standing what  to  act;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case  :  it  is 
compelled  to  act  solely  by  the  natural  love  which  is  in  it  from 
creation,  with  the  assistance  of  the  senses  of  its  body.  The 
reason  that  man  thinks  and  speaks  is  solely  because  his  under- 
standing is  capable  of  being  separated  from  his  will,  and  of 
being  elevated  even  into  the  light  of  heaven  ;  for  the  under- 
standing thinks,  and  thought  speaks.  The  reason  why  beasts 
act  according  to  the  laws  of  order  inscribed  on  their  nature, 
and  some  beasts  in  a  moral  and  rational  manner,  differently 
from  many  men,  is,  because  their  understanding  is  in  blind 
obedience  to  the  desires  of  their  will,  and  thence  they  are  not 
able  to  pervert  those  desires  by  depraved  reasonings,  as  men 
do.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  when  the  terms  u  will "  and 
"  understanding  "  are  here  used  in  reference  to  beasts,  a  cer- 
tain resemblance  of,  and  an  endowment  analogous  to,  those 
faculties,  are  what  are  meant :  analogous  endowments  are 
called  by  the  names  of  the  faculties  themselves,  on  account  of 
the  appearance.  The  life  of  a  beast  may  be  compared  with  a 
sleep-walker,  who  walks  and  acts  by  virtue  of  the  will  while 
the  understanding  sleeps ;  and  also  with  a  blind  man,  who 
walks  through  the  streets  with  a  dog  leading  him  ;  and  also 
with  an  idiot,  who,  from  custom,  and  the  habit  thence  acquired, 
does  his  work  in  a  regular  manner.  It  may  likewise  be  com- 
pared with  a  person  void  of  memory,  and  thence  deprived  of 
understanding,  who  still  knows  or  learns  how  to  clothe  himself, 
to  eat  the  food  which  he  prefers,  to  love  the  sex,  to  walk  the 
streets  from  house  to  house,  and  to  do  such  things  as  soothe 
the  senses  and  indulge  the  flesh,  by  the  allurements  and  plea- 
sures of  which  he  is  drawn  along,  though  he  does  not  think, 
and  thence  cannot  speak.  From  these  considerations  it  is 
evident,  how  much  they  are  mistaken  who  believe  beasts  to 
be  endowed  with  rationality,  and  only  to  be  distinguished  from 
men  by  their  external  figure  and  by  their  not  being  able  to 
express  by  speech  the  rational  things  which  inwardly  occupy 
their  thoughts  ;  from  which  fallacies  many  even  conclude,  that 
if  man  lives  after  death,  beasts  will  do  so  too ;  and,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  if  beasts  do  not  live  after  death,  neither  will  man  ; 
beside  other  dreams,  arising  from  ignorance  in  regard  to  the 
will  and  understanding,  and  also  in  regard  to  degrees ;  by  the 
aid  of  which,  as  steps  for  its  ascent,  the  mind  of  man  mount* 
up  to  heaven. 
278 


THE    SOUL    AND    THE    BODY.  16 

XIV.  That  there  are  three  degrees  in  the  spiritual  world,  and 
three  degrees  in  the  natural  world,  hitherto  unknown,  accord- 
ing to  which  all  influx  takes  place. 

16.  It  is  discovered  by  the  investigation  of  causes  from  their 
effects,  that  degrees  are  of  two  kinds,  one  according  to  which 
tilings  prior  and  posterior  are  constituted,  and  another  accord- 
ing to  which  things  greater  and  less  are  constituted.  The  de- 
grees which  distinguish  things  prior  and  posterior,  are  to  be 
called  DEGREES  OF  ALTITUDE,  or  DISCRETE  DEGREES  ;  but  the 
degrees  by  which  things  greater  and  less  are  distinguished 
from  each  other,  are  to  be  called  DEGREES  OF  LATITUDE,  and 
also  CONTINUOUS  DEGREES.  Degrees  of  altitude,  or  discrete  de- 
grees, are  like  the  generations  and  compositions  of  one  thing 
from  another ;  as,  for  example,  they  are  like  the  generation 
and  composition  of  any  nerve  from  its  fibres,  and  of  any  fibre 
from  its  fibrils ;  or  of  any  piece  of  wood,  stone,  or  metal  from 
its  parts,  and  of  any  part  from  its  particles :  but  degrees  of 
latitude,  or  continuous  degrees,  are  like  the  increments  and 
decrements  of  the  same  degree  of  altitude  with  respect  to 
breadth,  length,  height,  and  depth ;  as  of  greater  and  less 
bodies  of  water,  or  air,  or  ether ;  and  as  of  large  and  small 
masses  of  wood,  stone,  or  metal.  All  things,  even  to  the  most 
particular,  in  both  worlds,  both  the  spiritual  world  and  the 
natural  world,  are,  from  creation,  in  degrees  of  both  these 
kinds :  the  whole  animal  kingdom  in  this  world  is  in  those 
degrees  both  in  general  and  in  particular ;  so  are  the  whole 
vegetable  kingdom,  and  the  whole  mineral  kingdom  likewise ; 
and  so  is  the  expanse  of  atmospheres  from  the  sun  even  to  the 
earth.  There  are  therefore  three  atmospheres  discretely  dis- 
tinct according  to  the  degrees  of  altitude,  both  in  the  spiritual 
world  and  in  the  natural  world,  because  each  world  has  its 
sun  :  but  the  atmospheres  of  the  spiritual  world,  by  virtue  of 
their  origin,  are  substantial,  and  the  atmospheres  of  the  natu- 
ral world,  by  virtue  of  their  origin,  are  material ;  and  since 
the  atmospheres  descend  from  their  origins  according  to  those 
degrees,  and  are  the  continents  of  light  and  heat,  like  vehicles 
to  convey  these  principles  to  their  destination,  it  follows  that 
there  are  three  degrees  of  light  and  heat :  and  since  light  in 
the  spiritual  world  is  in  its  essence  wisdom,  and  heat  there  is 
in  its  essence  love,  as  was  demonstrated  above  in  its  proper 
article,  it  follows  also,  that  there  are  three  degrees  of  wisdom 
and  three  degrees  of  love,  consequently  three  degrees  of  life ; 
for  they  are  graduated  by  the  atmospheres  through  which  they 
pass.  Hence  it  is  that  there  are  three  angelic  heavens;  a 
supreme,  which  is  also  called  the  third  heaven,  inhabited  by 
angels  of  the  supreme  degree;  a  middle,  which  is  also  called 
the  second  heaven,  inhabited  by  angels  of  the  middle  degree* 

279 


16  THE    INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN 

aud  an  ultimate,  which  is  also  called  the  first  heaven,  inhab 
ited  by  angels  of  the  lowest  degree.  Those  heavens  are  also 
distinguished  according  to  the  degrees  of  wisdom  and  love : 
the  angels  of  the  ultimate  heaven  are  in  the  love  of  knowing 
truths  and  goods ;  the  angels  of  the  middle  heaven  are  in  the 
love  of  understanding  them,  and  the  angels  of  the  supreme 
heaven  are  in  the  love  of  being  wise,  that  is,  of  living  accord- 
ing to  those  truths  and  goods  which  they  know  and  under- 
stand. As  the  angelic  heavens  are  distinguished  into  three 
degrees,  so  also  is  the  human  mind,  because  the  human  mind 
is  an  image  of  heaven,  that  is,  it  is  a  heaven  in  miniature. 
Hence  it  is  that  man  is  capable  of  becoming  an  angel  of  one 
of  those  three  heavens  :  and  he  becomes  such  according  to  his 
reception  of  wisdom  and  love  from  the  Lord  ;  an  angel  of  the 
ultimate  heaven  if  he  only  receives  the  love  of  knowing  truths 
and  goods ;  an  angel  of  the  middle  heaven  if  he  receives  the 
love  of  understanding  them ;  and  an  angel  of  the  supreme 
heaven  if  he  receives  the  love  of  being  wise,  that  is,  of  living 
according  to  them.  That  the  human  mind  is  distinguished 
jito  three  regions,  according  to  the  three  heavens,  may  be 
seen  in  the  memorable  relation  inserted  in  the  work  on  CON- 
JIJGIAL  LOVE,  n.  270.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  all  spiritual 
influx  to  man  and  into  man  descends  from  the  Lord  by  these 
three  degrees,  and  that  it  is  received  by  man  according  to  the 
degree  of  wisdom  and  love  in  which  he  is.  A  knowledge  of 
these  degrees  is  of  the  greatest  utility  at  this  day.  For  many, 
in  consequence  of  not  knowing  them,  tarry  in  the  lowest  de- 
gree, in  which  are  the  senses  of  their  body,  and  on  account  of 
their  ignorance,  which  is  intellectual  darkness,  are  incapable 
of  being  elevated  into  spiritual  light,  which  is  above  them : 
hence  naturalism  takes  possession  of  them,  as  it  were  sponta- 
neously, as  soon  as  they  enter  on  any  investigation  and  scru- 
tiny concerning  the  human  sonl  and  mind,  and  its  rationality, 
and  more  so  if  they  extend  their  inquiries  to  heaven  and  the 
life  after  death  :  whence  they  become  like  person?  standing  in 
the  market  places  with  telescopes  in  their  hands,  looking  at 
the  sky  and  uttering  vain  predictions;  and  also  like  persona 
who  chatter  and  reason  about  every  object  they  see,  and  every 
thing  they  hear,  without  any  rational  ideas,  resulting  from  an 
understanding  of  the  subject,  being  contained  in  their  remarks  : 
these  are  like  butchers,  who  believe  themselves  to  be  skilful 
anatomists,  because  they  have  examined  the  viscera  of  oxen 
and  sheep  outwardly,  but  not  inwardly.  But  it  is  a  truth  that 
to  think  from  the  influx  of  natural  light  not  cleared  by  the  in- 
flux of  spiritual  light,  is  merely  to  dream,  and  to  speak  from 
such  thought  is  to  make  vain  assertions,  like  fortune-tellers. 
But  further  particulars  concerning  degrees  may  be  seen  in  the 
work  on  the  DIVINE  LOVE  AND  THE  DIVINE  WISDOM,  n.  173 — 281 
280 


THE    SOUL   AND   THE   BODY.  17 

XV.  That  ends  are  in  the  first  degree,  causes  in  the  second, 
and  effects  in  the  third. 

17.  Who  does  not  see  that  the  end  is  not  the  cause,  but  that 
it  produces  the  cause  ?  and  that  the  cause  is  not  the  effect,  but 
that  it  produces  the  effect  ?  consequently,  that  they  are  three 
distinct  things  which  follow  each   other  in  order  ?     The  end 
with  man  is  the  love  of  his  will ;  for  what  a  man  loves,  this  he 
proposes  to  himself  and  intends  :  the  cause  with  him  is  the  rea- 
son of  his  understanding;  for  the  end,  by  means  of  the  reason, 
seeks  for  middle  or  instrumental  causes  :  and  the  effect  is  the 
operation  of  the  body,  from,  and  according  to,  the  end  and 
cause.     Thus  there  are  three  things  in  man,  which  follow  each 
other  in  order,  just  as  is  done  by  the  degrees  of  altitude.    When 
these  three   tilings  are  exhibited  to  observation,  the  end  is 
within  the  cause,  and  by  the  cause  is  in  the  effect :  thus,  in  the 
effect,  these  three  things  co-exist.     On  this  account  it  is  said 
in  the  Word,  that  every  one  shall  be  judged  according  to  his 
works :  for  the  end,  or  the  love  of  his  will,  and  the  cause,  oi 
the  reason  of  his  understanding,  are  contained  together  in  the  ef 
fects,  which  are  the  works  of  his  body :  thus  in  them  is  contained 
the  quality  of  the  whole  man.     They  who  are  unacquainted 
with  these  truths,  and  do  not  thus  distinguish  the  objects  oi 
rational  contemplation,  cannot  avoid  terminating  the  ideas  of 
their  thought  either  in  the  atoms  of  Epicurus,  the  monads  of 
Leibnitz,  or  the  simple  substances  of  Wolff :  they  thus  shut  up 
their  understandings  as  with  a  bolt,  so  that  they  cannot  even  ex- 
ercise their  reason  upon  the  subject  of  spiritual  influx,  because 
they   cannot  think  of  any  progression  beyond  those  atoms, 
monads,  or  simple  substances  ;  for  the  author  of  the  doctrine 
of  simple  substances  says,  that  if  they  are  divided  they  are 
annihilated.     Thus  the  understanding  remains  stationary  in  its 
first  light,  which  merely  proceeds  from  the  senses  of  the  body, 
and  does  not  advance  a  step  further.     Hence  it  is  not  known 
but  that  spiritual  substance  is  merely  a  subtile  natural  sub- 
stance ;  that  beasts  have  rationality  as  well  as  men  ;  and  that 
the  soul  is  a  puff  of  wind,  like  that  which  is  emitted  from  the 
breast  when  a  person  dies  :  beside  other  notions  which  do  not 
partake  of  light  but  of  darkness.    As  all  things  in  the. spiritual 
world,  and  all  things  in  the  natural  world,  proceed  according 
to  these  degrees,  as  was  shown  in  the  preceding  article,  it  is 
evident  that  intelligence  properly  consists  in  knowing  and  dis- 
tinguishing them,  and  seeing  them  in  their  order.    By  these 
degrees,  also,  every  man  is  known  as  to  his  quality,  wnen  his 
love  is  known  ;  for,  as  observed  above,  the  end,  wnich  is  of  the 
will,  the  causes,  which  are  of  the  understanding,  and  the  ef 
fecf,s,  which  are  of  the  body,  follow  from  his  love,  as  a  tree 
from  its  seed,  and  as  fruit  from  a  tree.  There  are  loves  of  three 

281 


17,  IS  THE    INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN 

kinds  ;  the  love  of  heaven,  the  love  of  the  world,  and  the  love 
of  self :  the  love  of  heaven  is  spiritual,  the  love  of  the  world  ia 
material,  and  the  love  of  self  is  corporeal.  When  the  love  is 
spiritual,  all  things  which  follow  from  it,  as  forms  from  theii 
essence,  are  spiritual  likewise :  so,  also,  when  the  principal 
love  is  the  love  of  the  world  or  of  wealth,  and  thus  is  material, 
all  things  which  follow  from  it,  as  principiates  from  their  first 
principle,  are  material  likewise  ;  and  so,  again,  when  the  prin- 
cipal love  is  the  love  of  self,  or  of  eminence  above  all  others, 
and  thus  is  corporeal,  all  things  which  follow  from  it  are  cor- 
poreal likewise;  because  the  man  who  cherishes  this  love 
regards  himself  alone,  and  thus  immerses  the  thoughts  of  his 
mind  in  his  body.  Wherefore,  as  just  remarked,  he  who 
knows  the  reigning  love  of  any  one,  and  is  at  the  same  time 
acquainted  with  the  progression  of  ends  to  causes  and  of 
causes  to  effects,  which  three  things  follow  each  other  in 
order,  according  to  the  degrees  of  altitude,  knows  the  quality 
of  the  whole  man.  Thus  the  angels  of  heaven  know  the  qual 
ity  of  every  one  with  whom  they  speak  ;  they  perceive  his  love 
from  the  sound  of  his  voice,  they  see  an  image  of  it  in  his 
face,  and  the  figure  of  it  in  the  gestures  of  his  body. 

XYI.    That  hence  is  evident  what  is  the  nature  of  spiritua, 
influx  from  its  origin  to  its  effects. 

18.  Spiritual  influx  has  hitherto  been  deduced,  by  those 
who  have  treated  of  it,  from  the  soul  into  the  body,  but  not 
from  God  into  the  soul  and  thus  into  the  body.  The  reason  oi 
their  proceeding  thus  has  been,  because  no  one  had  any  know- 
ledge respecting  the  spiritual  world,  and  respecting  the  sun 
there,  from  whence  all  spiritual  things  issue  as  from  their  foun- 
tain ;  and  thus  no  one  had  any  knowledge  respecting  the  influx 
of  spiritual  things  into  natural  things.  ISTow  since  it  has  been 
granted  me  to  be  in  the  spiritual  world  and  in  the  natural  world 
at  the  same  time,  I  am  obliged  by  my  conscience  to  commu- 
nicate these  facts.  For  of  what  use  is  the  possession  of  know- 
ledge without  its  communication  ?  Without  the  latter,  what 
is  the  former,  but  like  collecting  and  storing  up  riches  in  a 
casket,  and  only  looking  at  them  occasionally  and  counting 
them  over,  without  any  intention  of  applying  them  to  use  ?  In 
fact,  it  is  spiritual  avarice.  But  in  order  that  it  may  be  fully 
known  what  spiritual  influx  is,  and  what  is  its  nature,  it  is 
necessary  to  know  what  that  which  is  SPIRITUAL  is  in  its 
essence,  and  what  that  which  is  NATURAL  ;  as  also  what  the  au 
MAN  SOUL  is :  lest,  therefore,  this  short  lucubration  should  bo 
defective  through  ignorance  of  these  subjects,  it  will  be  useful 
to  consult  some  MEMORABLE  RELATIONS  inserted  in  the  work  on 
CONJUGIAL  LOVE  ;  viz.  that  respecting  the  SPIRITUAL  PRINCIPLE, 
282 


THE    SOUL   AND   THE    BODY. 

I 

n.  326 — 329  ;  that  respecting  the  HUMAN  SOUL,  u.  315 ;  and 
that  respecting  THE  INFLUX  OF  SPIRITUAL  THINGS  INTO  NATURAL, 
n.  380  ;  which  latter  subject  is  more  fully  treated  of,  n.  415 — 
422.* 

19.  I  will  here  subjoin  this  MEMORABLE  RELATION.  After 
these  pages  were  written,  1  prayed  to  the  Lord  that  I  might  be 
permitted  to  converse  with  some  disciples  of  ARISTOTLE,  and  at 
the  same  time  with  some  disciples  of  DES  CARTES,  and  with 
Borne  disciples  of  LEIBNITZ,  in  order  that  1  miglit  learn  the 
opinions  of  their  minds  concerning  the  intercourse  between  the 
soul  and  the  body.  After  my  prayer  was  ended,  there  were 
present  nine  men,  three  Aristotelians,  three  Cartesians,  and 
three  Leibnitzians ;  and  they  arranged  themselves  round  me, 
the  admirers  of  Aristotle  being  on  the  left  side,  the  followers 
of  Des  Cartes  on  the  right  side,  and  the  favorers  of  Leibnitz 
behind.  At  a  considerable  distance,  and  also  at  a  distance 
from  each  other,  were  seen  three  persons  crowned  with  laurel, 
whom  I  knew,  by  an  influent  perception,  to  be  those  three  great 
.eaders  or  masters  themselves.  Behind  Leibnitz  stood  a  person 
holding  the  skirt  of  his  garment,  who,  I  was  told,  was  Wolff. 
Those  nine  men,  when  they  beheld  one  another,  at  first  saluted 
each,  other,  and  conversed  together  in  a  mild  tone  of  voice. 
But  presently  "there  arose  from  below  a  spirit  with  a  torch  in  his 
-ight  hand,  which  he  shook  before  their  faces,  whereupon  they 
became  enemies,  three  against  three,  and  looked  at  each  other 
with  a  fierce  countenance :  for  they  were  seized  with  the  lust 
of  altercation  and  dispute.  Then  the  Aristotelians,  who  were 
also  schoolmen,  began  to  speak,  saying,  u  Who  does  not  see 
that  objects  flow  through  the  senses  into  the  soul,  as  a  man 
enters  through  the  doors  into  a  chamber,  and  that  the  soul 
thinks  according  to  such  influx  ?  When  a  lover  sees  a  beau 
tiful  virgin,  or  his  bride,  does  not  his  eye  sparkle,  and  transmit 
the  love  of  her  into  the  soul?  When  a  miser  sees  bags  of 
money,  do  not  all  his  senses  burn  toward  them,  and  thence  in- 
duce this  ardor  into  the  soul,  and  excite  the  desire  of  possessing 
them  ?  When  a  proud  man  hears  himself  praised  by  another, 
does  he  not  prick  up  his  ears,  and  do  not  these  transmit  those 
praises  to  the  soul  ?  Are  not  the  senses  of  the  body  like  outer 
courts,  through  which  alone  entrance  is  obtained  to  the  soul  ? 
From  these  considerations  and  innumerable  others  of  a  similar 
kind,  who  can  conclude  otherwise  than  that  influx  proceeds 
from  nature,  or  is  physical  ?"  While  they  were  speaking  thus, 
the  followers  of  Des  Cartes  held  their  fingers  on  their  foreheads ; 
and  now  withdrawing  them  they  replied,  saying,  "Alas,  ye 
gpeak  from  appearances ;  do  ye  not  know  that  the  eye  does  not 

*  The  same  articles  are  repeated  in  the  TRUE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION,  and  will  bt 
fcund  at  n.  280,  697,  35,  77,  and  12. 

283 


19  THE   INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN 

love  a  virgin  or  bride  from  itself,  but  from  the  soul  ?  and  like- 
wise that  the  senses  of  the  body  do  not  covet  the  bags  of  money 
from  themselves,  but  from  the  soul ;  and  also  that  the  ears  do 
not  devour  the  praises  of  flatterers  in  any  othermanner  ?  Is  it 
.not  perception  that  causes  sensation  ?  and  perception  is  a  faculty 
of  the  soul,  and  not  of  the  organs  of  the  body.  Say,  if  you 
can,  what  causes  the  tongue  and  lips  to  speak,  but  the  thought? 
and  what  causes  the  hands  to  work,  but  the  will  ?  and  thought 
and  will  are  faculties  of  the  soul,  and  not  of  t.ie  body.  Thus 
what  causes  the  eye  to  see,  and  the  ear  to  hear,  and  the  other 
organs  to  feel,  but  the  soul  ?  From  these  considerations,  and  in- 
numerable others  of  a  similar  kind,  every  one,  whose  wisdom  is 
elevated  above  the  sensual  apprehensions  of  the  body,  must  con 
elude,  that  influx  does  not  flow  from  the  body  into  the  soul,  but 
from  the  soul  into  the  body ;  which  influx  we  call  occasional 
influx,  and  also  spiritual  influx."  When  these  had  finished, 
the  three  men  who  stood  behind  the  former  triads,  and  who 
were  the  favorers  of  Leibnitz,  began  to  speak,  saying,  ""We 
have  heard  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  and  have  compared 
them ;  and  we  have  perceived  that  in  many  particulars  the 
latter  are  stronger  than  the  former,  and  that  in  many  others  the 
former  are  stronger  than  the  latter ;  wherefore,  if  you  please, 
tve  will  compromise  the  dispute."  On  being  asked  how,  they 
replied,  "  There  is  not  any  influx  from  the  soul  into  the  body, 
nor  from  the  body  into  the  soul,  but  there  is  a  unanimous  and 
instantaneous  operation  of  both  together,  to  which  a  celebrated 
author  has  assigned  an  elegant  name,  when  he  calls  it  .Pre-es- 
tablished Harmony."  After  this  the  spirit  with  a  torch  appeared 
again,  but  the  torch  was  now  in  his  left  hand,  arid  he  shook  it 
behind  the  back  of  their  heads,  whence  the  ideas  of  them  all 
became  confused,  and  they  all  cried  out  at  once,  "  Neither  our 
soul  nor  body  knows  what  part  to  take ;  wherefore  let  us  settle 
this  dispute  by  lot,  and  we  will  abide  by  the  lot  which  comes 
out  first."  So  they  took  out  three  bits  of  paper,  and  wrote  on 
one  of  them,  PHYSICAL  INFLUX,  on  another,  SPIRITUAL  INFLUX, 
and  on  the  third,  PRE-ESTABLISHED  HARMONY  ;  and  they  put  them 
all  into  the  crown  of  a  hat.  Then  they  chose  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  draw ;  who,  on  putting  in  his  hand,  took  out  that  on 
which  was  written,  SPIRITUAL  INFLUX.  Having  seen  and  read 
it,  they  all  said,  yet  some  with  a  clear  and  flowing,  some  with 
a  faint  and  indrawn  voice,  "  Let  us  abide  by  this,  because  it 
came  out  first."  But  then  an  angel  suddenly  stood  by,  and 
said,  "  Do  not  imagine  that  the  paper  in  favor  of  spiritual  in- 
flux came  out  first  by  chance,  for  it  was  of  providence  :  for  you 
do  not  see  the  truta  of  that  doctrine,  on  account  of  the  confu- 
sion of  your  ideas,  but  the  truth  presented  itself  to  the  hand  of 
him  that  drew  the  lots,  that  you  might  yield  it  your  assent." 


THE    SOUL   AND   THE    BODY.  '  86"*  ••*' 

20.  I  was  formerly  asked,  "  How  I,  who  was  previously  a 
philosopher,  became  a  theologian  ;"  I  answered,  "  In  the  same 
tiiaimer  that  fishermen  became  the  disciples  and  apostles  of 
fhe  Lord  :"  and  I  added  that  1  also  from  early  vouth  had  been 
a  spiritual  fisherman.  On  this,  my  inquirer  asked,  "What  is  a 
spiritual  fisherman  ?"  To  which  I  replied,  "A  fisherman,  in 
the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  signifies  a  man  who  investi- 
gates and  teaches  natural  truths,  and  afterwards  spiritual  truths 
in  a  rational  manner."  On  his  inquiring,  "  How  this  is  de- 
monstrated ?"  I  said,  u  From  these  passages  of  the  Word  :  '  A.nd 
the  waters  shall  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  livers  shall  be  was- 
ted and  dried  up :  therefore  the  fishers  shall  mourn,  and  all 
mat  cast  a  hook  into  the  sea  shall  lament,'  Is.  xix.  5,  8.  In 
another  place  it  is  said  respecting  the  sea,  whose  waters  were 
healed,  k  the  fishers  shall  stand  from  Engedi  even  unto  Ene- 
glairn,  they  shall  be  a  place  to  spread  forth  nets  ;  their  fish 
shall  be  according  to  their  kinds,  as  the  fish  of  the  great  sea, 
exceedingly  many,' Ezek.  xlvii.  10.  And  in  another  place: 
'  Behold,  I  will  send  for  many  fishers,  saith  Jehovih,  and  they 
shall  fish  them?  Jerem.  xvi.  16.  Hence  it  is  evident  why  the 
Lord  chose  fishermen  for  his  disciples,  .and  said,  "  Follow  me, 
and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men,"  Matt.  iv.  18,  19 ;  Mark  i. 
16,  17  :  and  why  he  said  to  Peter,  after  he  had  caught  a  mul- 
titude of  fishes,  '  henceforth  thou  shall  catch  men,'  Luke  v.  9, 
10."  I  afterwards  demonstrated  the  origin  of  this  signification 
of  fishermen  from  the  Apocalypse  Revealed ;  viz.  that  since 
water  signifies  natural  truths,  n.  50,  932,  as  does  also  a  river, 
D.  409,  932,  therefore  a  fish  signifies  those  who  are  in  possession 
of  natural  truths,  n.  405  ;  whence  fishermen  signify  those  who 
investigate  and  teach  truth.  On  hearing  this,  my  interrogator 
raised  his  voice  and  said,  "  Now  I  can  understand  why  the 
Lord  called  and  chose  fishermen  to  be  his  disciples ;  and  inere- 
fore  I  do  not  wonder  that  he  has  also  called  and  chosen  you, 
since,  as  you  have  observed,  you  were  from  early  youth  a  fisher- 
man in  a  spiritual  sense,  that  is  an  investigator  of  natural  truths  : 
the  reason  that  you  are  now  become  an  investigator  of  spiritual 
truths,  is,  because  these  are  founded  on  the  former."  To  this 
he  added,  being  a  man  of  reason,  that  "  the  Lord  alone  knows 
who  is  the  proper  person  to  apprehend  and  teach  or  communi- 
cate the  truths  which  should  be  revealed  for  his  New  Church, 
and  whether  such  a  person  is  to  be  found  among  the  digni- 
taries of  the  Church  or  among  their  domestic  servants.  Besides," 
he  continued,  "  among  Christians,  what  divine  does  not  first 
study  philosophy  at  college,  before  he  is  ordained  ?  otherwise, 
whence  could  he  obtain  a  sufficient  degree  of  intelligence?" 
At  last  he  said.  "  Since  you  are  become  a  divine,  explain  what 

235 


20  THE  INTERCOURSE  BETWEEN  THE  SOUL  AND  THE  BODY. 

is  your  system  of  divinity  ?"  I  answered,  "  These  are  the  two 
principles  of  it,  THAT  GOD  is  ONE,  and  THAT  THERE  ISA  CONJE  NO- 
TION OF  CHARITY  AND  FAITH."  He  replied,  "  Who  denies  thes« 
principles?"  I  rejoined,  "The  divinity  of  the  present  day 
when  interiorly  examined." 


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RECEIVED 


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APR  1 2 1962 


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(Cl795slO)476B 


University  of  California 
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